Childhood & Youth and Psychology (with Foundation Year)

This is a four year degree taught at our Hope Park campus. The Foundation Year aims to develop your skills so that after a year, you will be equipped with the necessary skills needed for studying the full BA Hons degree programme.

Childhood & Youth
Childhood and Youth is an exciting, multidisciplinary subject in which you will explore a range of issues and challenges faced by children and young people in contemporary society, both here in the UK and on a global level. Drawing on key ideas from sociology, psychology, politics, history and geography, the degree examines important questions about children and young people’s development, their life chances and their opportunities for participation in wider society.

Topics studied include how social class, poverty, gender and ethnicity impact upon young people’s lives; how the media influence how children and young people are perceived by adults, and how they view themselves; and why young people take part in risky activities. In examining such questions, you will also explore various political debates and policy initiatives, as well as learning about various ways of researching with children and young people that aim to help them overcome the many challenges that they face.

Psychology
Psychology is the study of people, with a particular focus on individuals. Knowledge and skills cultivated within the discipline enable practitioners to intervene at personal, inter personal and systemic levels in order to enable people to live better lives. Choice of programmes allows students to study a course that reflects their prior interests, lived experience, or future goals. Ethical practice and working within a shared set of values is also important to us; our University is deeply committed to serving the common good. We see Psychology as a discipline with the capacity, and responsibility, to make a positive contribution to how people live in everyday life.

In our teaching of Psychology, we strive to enable our students to grow into constructive citizens who are curious about people, and motivated to make a positive difference to the lives of others. Beyond classroom learning, there are opportunities to enrich your chosen programme of study in a way that will help you in developing your psychological thinking. They include going on a placement, working as a research assistant in a laboratory, travelling to another country as part of Global Hope, or under the Erasmus study abroad scheme.